Multiple Sclerosis

In 2010 I traveled to Costa Rica with Erinn and Cate for surgery. It was rumored that this procedure could do a lot to alleviate some of the significant symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis that I was experiencing.

I’m now in my 4th year of not going to church in the summer. It’s too hot and humid. My tolerance for humidity gets worse each year due to MS related complications. Humidity simply sucks the life outta me. It’s hard enough as it is. So back when I told my doctor about how I feel when I go to my wonderful, yet old and non-air conditioned church, she told me I’d be wise to not go in the summer.

So I’ve been working out lately. I’ve been going to the gym. I’ve even been swimming again.
And to take it up a notch from things I’ve done previously, I’ve hired a personal trainer. I go to this high intensity gym where all these people are crazy strong and do unbelievable things, and then there’s me and my scooter.

There is an outdoor kind of lounge/garden area that I grew to love when I would come and visit her. It seems that almost no one knows about this place. It’s beautiful and barely anyone ever visits it. I view it now as my own personal Secret Garden. This is the first time I’ve come here on my own since she has passed. I feel close to her in this place.

Life truly does have a funny way about it. There is so much joy, love, beauty, and wonder.
And there is also so much pain, suffering, confusion, fear and doubt.
There are many days where I wish the downside of life just didn’t have to happen.
But I know that it does.
For everyone.

This Carmelite monk dude that lives in the monastery told me about a secret pathway down over the hill to the edge of the river. All I had to do was go down the road a little and look for the sign that says ‘do not enter’ and then, well, enter.
That of course is my kind of path!

The thing about this drug is that it is the first ever medication that addresses issues related to progressive MS; the kind that I have. Apparently it can significantly slow down the progress of the disease. That’s a very big deal if it’s true.

yesterday I rolled out my yoga mat, got on the floor and did my daily routine. It’s not pretty to look at but it really does improve my life in so many ways. I turn on my yoga music, lay on my mat, stretch, focus on my breathing, pray/meditate, and even do some strength exercises. It’s incredibly healthy on every level.

Last year I wrote that I’d be continuing my foray into my life as a snow-birder. But as people are more and more prone to reading things quickly, I got more than a few perplexed responses from people asking how on earth I can snowboard when I can barely walk…

I’m trying to take the Jesus Way on the road of life.
I've been hanging out with people that live on the street for more than 25 years. I've been married to Erinn for close to 20 of those and we have an awesome daughter Cate who is a teenager. I've also lived with Multiple Sclerosis for almost 20 years. I've learned that life is a confusing, exhilarating, joy and pain filled adventure that on most days is worth getting out of bed for.